Can I make money selling computers?

[xspectrum]

I'm 16 and want to make some extra cash. The idea dawned on me that I could sell computers that I make. I like making computers, so I figure it's worth a shot. Does anyone know the best way to sell a custom computer? Should I make a computer, then sell it, or have someone contact me, then make the computer? What website should I use? Thanks in advance.

 

[daship]

Understood. As a computer fixer/diagnoser, I'm pretty skilled.

How are you skilled when you don't even know what parts are compatible with each other? Have you not looked through those threads of yours?

 

[grumbledook]

Geez. Everybody has to start somewhere, you guys sure are condescending.

If you really want to make a living off this you really should consider making custom cases and such instead of just building random systems which anyone can do. The itx and htpc market is getting bigger so that's also worth focusing on. Just try it as a hobby at first, and know that it won't really pay off with the effort you have to put into it compared to what you earn.

 

[SingingThroughTheStorm]

Geez. Everybody has to start somewhere, you guys sure are condescending.

If you really want to make a living off this you really should consider making custom cases and such instead of just building random systems which anyone can do. The itx and htpc market is getting bigger so that's also worth focusing on. Just try it as a hobby at first, and know that it won't really pay off with the effort you have to put into it compared to what you earn.

And you also have to be careful because you might not get the money you put in back.

 

[azeem40]

How are you skilled when you don't even know what parts are compatible with each other? Have you not looked through those threads of yours?

It is called learning and adapting... Don't insult him just because of what he said. Everyone has to start somewhere. Also, my dad, before this job, knew NOTHING about computers. Now, in the hardware side, he knows more than me, and I have know a lot about computers already...

My dad currently does what you want to do, and he manages to put a roof over our heads AND in a 2-story $200k house even. I am sure if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish a lot.

 

[xspectrum]

How are you skilled when you don't even know what parts are compatible with each other? Have you not looked through those threads of yours?

Because fixing and diagnosing computers has absolutely nothing to do with knowing which part are compatible with each other.

For the fourth time, I wanted to make sure everything was perfect before I ordered it. That's why I asked that question. It's not because I know nothing about computers, but because I wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking something crucial. I may have been sitting too close to the painting to see the whole picture.

 

[azeem40]

^ That is absolutely right (@ the first sentence (not to say what you said is wrong)). 😛

 

[SingingThroughTheStorm]

How about you try posting a computer you intend to build on craigslist and see if you
get anyone interested in buying. DON'T buy any parts, but just post your planned build as if complete.

Chances are you will get flagged for removal, but ya don't know till ya try.
Shipping fees, eBay fees, and paypal fees would cut out almost any profit (might lose money) if selling online.

 

[daship]

Because fixing and diagnosing computers has absolutely nothing to do with knowing which part are compatible with each other.

For the fourth time, I wanted to make sure everything was perfect before I ordered it. That's why I asked that question. It's not because I know nothing about computers, but because I wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking something crucial. I may have been sitting too close to the painting to see the whole picture.

Oh really? When a part goes bad you have to know what is a compatible replacemnet. I could quote 2 dozen of your posts that prove you have no knowledge at all about compatibility.

 

[xspectrum]

Oh really? When a part goes bad you have to know what is a compatible replacemnet. I could quote 2 dozen of your posts that prove you have no knowledge at all about compatibility.

I actually do. Again, for the fifth time, I wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking something, then have to deal with exchanging parts. And most failures on a computer happen due to viruses and such. The operating system usually runs into trouble, not the hardware itself.

 

[phamhlam]

xSpectrum, don't give a *** about what those assholes have to say. Build a computer, forget about getting a licenses. You aren't running a business and this is a small thing. You aren't building a million computers so support is nothing you shoud worry about. If a friend or family member has a problem with a computer you build, I am pretty sure they will ask you to help fix it even after 5 years or whenever. Everyone else like daship on this fourm could go fk themselves. Just don't make things to complicated. Building a computer for friends and family and neighbors is nothing.

 

[mildgamer001]

ok, some extra stuff u might want to think about spectrum, ever think of cleanign computers for a VERY SMALL AMOUNT of sidecash? sometimes people have their computers on teh floor or under a desk that never gets cleaned under, explain to family and friends how they can help make their somputers last a little longer by keeping them clean and that dust makes computers hotter and less efficient etc etc. get either a low power air compresser or canned air and charge like, 20$ per cleaning (once or twice a year maybe depending on where the computer is usually held) you wont make much, but hey, little work, and a lot of people know their computer is filled with dust but dont want to open it up because they think they will break something.

and daship, what the hell? its good that you do explain some of the downsides to selling computers, but you have no clue how to read.listen to what other people tell you. he is NOT trying to make a living off of this, he was asking about his first build (you dont get that he might just mean his first build FOR HIS PERSONAL USE, not nessisarily in general, i built several older computers (or rather, rebuilt) before i built my first computer for myself.
and you can give advice without acting like a total dink, dont be so thick about this, side cash isnt a living, and hell, i ask constantly about stuff because i 1. like to get OPINIONS from other people, just to make sure i get best bang for my buck etc etc, 2. i wasnt totally sure abotu the price/performance abotu all teh parts because i dont obsess about benchmarks and stuff all the time, and brands are rediculous little thinks to try to get straiforward opinions on.
3. people LEARN isnt that wierd? that people like, might not know abotu one specific thing or situation, and just want to figure it out so they can use the new information to an advantage later on, i went from thinking RAM was the one and only aspect in gaming performance to knowing how to build computers, shop for parts prices, knowing abotu brands and abreviations and all thos ethinks you need to know to work with computers (at a somewhat low level for how long i had been interested) in like, 2 months, just from tomshardware forums.

on some of that fairly long rant, i am not just targeting you, there wer eothers, you were just teh most jerk-ish abotu it all. you can get a poitn across without demoralizing/making someon feel bad about their abilities or hobbies you know...

but spectrum, you do still need to make sure you know, you will not make a lot of money off of this, there just isnt as much in it anymore, there wasnt all that much in the past even, but there is nothing wrong with the occasional buold for a friend or nieghbor once and a while.

 

[g-unit1111]

My friends tell me I should open my own shop and one time I actually did the math as to what it would take and I found I would need to sell about 400 systems a month to stay competitive and turn a profit.

 

[SingingThroughTheStorm]

My friends tell me I should open my own shop and one time I actually did the math as to what it would take and I found I would need to sell about 400 systems a month to stay competitive and turn a profit.

The overhead of having your own shop and everything is insane.

 

[maximiza]

DON"T DO IT!!!!! Mark ups SUCK

 

[Gibbonz]

Learn how to program! The investment will pay off much better down the road.

 

[trout_11]

Well anyway your 16, you can't get a business license or a Federal ID number so game over.

Have you found the hole you slunk out of and returned to it yet? Just because you're a miserable failure at this doesn't mean you need to haunt these forums preying on those with the entrepreneurial spirit and try to project your unfortunate experiences into theories of why they will fail and shouldn't even bother trying. You are why America grows weak -you are a weakling that sucks. You suck, and therefore anyone else who tries the same thing you tried (and FAILED at) will suck/fail...tell the midget blow up doll hi for me...you disgust me.

 

[linea]

I think buying and selling secondhand computers for smaller profit margins is looking increasingly lucrative. More and more people are throwing out perfectly good computer kit. They are either literally throwing it out, sticking it on Ebay, or giving it away on free recycling sites. At most, most of this equipment just needs a simple upgrade or a minor repair. I think there could be real money to be made by trading some of this stuff. FOr instance the other day I bought a 6 month old Samsung 20" monitor for £30 in perfect condition from a local area secondhand website. The same monitors go for over £100 on Ebay.

Laptops and old Apple equipment too. In the last couple of years I've been given old but working imacs, ibooks and pc laptops by people that know I fix up computers (but I am no expert), but actually the machines worked fine anyway after a clean OS install. Without fail I have found people who were delighted new owners for all these machines - but I actually gave them away when I could have made a pounds on them.

 

[GMPoisoN]

Old post but Ill post here anyways. How would one go about getting insured? (18 yr old). I want to do the same, just not for a lot of money, for experience. What if you test the pc and send it out fine, but they say its broke, which it wasnt when you sent it, and they sue you. How do you stop someone from doing that? Is they a 1 time fee type of deal for that?

 

[Hein Cuppen]

There is always a way dude. And always something you can do to make cash. Big corporations can't play the whole field, that's why there are always interesting niches, and other ways to sell the same stuff by adding different value or cutting prices. Remember that you don't need to add more value than an Apple or Dell in the whole "value chain", but that you need to add the value that they don't.

When I was 16/17 I sold polyester film for the repair of windsurfing sails. It turns out that for most people windsurfing out there, repairing a sail can be quite the challenge due to the lack of shops/people who do that. So I sold by the meter and sold the glue they needed and shipped it to them. Many companies sell polyester film at marginal prices, same goes for the glue, but still there was a need that I could fulfil.

I am totally hooked into the Raspberry Pi project and can tell you that there's plenty of money to be made with it. Profit margins are decent, especially when you buy bulk! I heard about a guy selling them on-line with Raspbmc pre-installed making quite a bit of cash. With these, you'll might need a stock of two or three to start with. Good luck on all your entrepreneurial endeavours! It starts like that, and if you keep your diligence and curiosity high, you can be really successful.

 

[Aaron Troller]

I'm 16 and want to make some extra cash. The idea dawned on me that I could sell computers that I make. I like making computers, so I figure it's worth a shot. Does anyone know the best way to sell a custom computer? Should I make a computer, then sell it, or have someone contact me, then make the computer? What website should I use? Thanks in advance.[/quo

theirs money to be made if you have patience i have been building and selling over a year now i started with 10 computers all different specs with different prices. i use amazon,ebay,local classifieds and papers. i make on average 150 to 200 more per pc its not alot like dell and others but i am making a profit. i sell on average 5 to 15 a week. one week i needed help sold 33 still remember that week lol but like i said it takes time i was only selling 1 to 3 if that a week for some time its picking up tho. just stick with it and make it fun but always make sure you have a profit margin so you wont lose money.

 

[g-unit1111]

OK... I'll look into that. God, you really come off as someone I'd like to rear back and hit as hard as I can.

You do realize that probably 90% of your customers will be worse than this, right? 😉

You need to understand that while building computers may be your passion, your primary job will be supporting the computers you build. You need to take into account the lowest common denominator. The two most common errors you'll come across are the ID-10T and PEBKAC errors.

In case you don't know...

ID-10T = idiots
PEBKAC = Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair

Are you ready for this? Are you ready to handle the travel, time, and cost (assuming you keep it local)?

Just as an example. A client of mine recently called to state she could no longer access her e-mail. She kept getting a message that she needed to download Chrome. She kept clicking yes to download Chrome, but nothing changed. She continued to have problems accessing her e-mails and finally called me. I had to drop what I was doing and go resolve the issue. It took me ten minutes to get to the location, five minutes for her to have enough time to show me the problem she was experiencing, two seconds to show her what she was doing wrong (she kept opening her old e-mail client and not Chrome), and another ten minutes to get back home.

Diagnosing problems is only easy when the client having the problem is knowledgeable enough to clearly explain what the issue is. Otherwise, you generally have to see it for yourself to understand what the issue is. That, my friend, takes time and time is money.

-Wolf sends

Oh my god, I totally agree with everything said here. It's not so much building PCs - that's the fun part. It's supporting the systems you build - that's not the fun part. Even my parents - though they know I am technically proficient, ask the most banal, mundane questions relating to their smart phones (which I hate doing) and their PCs (which the answer 95% of the time is "restart your computer"). That's the side of the job that's not fun and is really irritating at times. If you can get through that, you're good.

 

[Tom Wall]

Offering people tech support or lessons how to do things would be more profitable and may be enjoyable too. Put an add out there saying you can help with all sorts of issues and give hands on lessons and you could teach older people how to use their computer which would be pretty easy. Maybe they want to know how to check their e-mail or search more effectively in the search engine or they want to know how to install a webcam and microphone and get it tuned properly so they can use skype with their grandkids etc.

My mom still can't make proper web searches and she's 57. She constantly clicks on ads that come before the actual search results. She'll end up searching for something, lets just say "Computers" and she'll end up on one of those stupid sites that give you all these paid for results that companies want you to go to, and she'll wonder why she's on HP's website or something lol.

You could help them get their computer secured with an anti-virus, free or paid depending on what they want. You could easily charge 30-60+ and hour just to teach them all about their computer.

And once they get better and if they decide their computer is SLOW or doesn't have a screen as big or high quality as they need or they wish they could hear music out of some nicer speakers instead of the ones in the pc.

That would be your time to pounce and set them up with a great system, and you could charge 50$ for putting it together and then charge them to install it and set up a secure wifi connnection that will keep their personal computers as safe as possible.

You could also teach common sense things about keeping their identity safe from thieves online and teach them what types of things they should be suspicious,such as websites that appear to be the right one but have spelling errors etc. or look slightly off, and all those other things to look out for, never write their credit/bank card info on their computer in any files because it can be taken. Never give out your credit number to ANYONE even if they e-mail you claiming to be from a reputable company/bank/store and it seems convincing that they may need it to re-confirm a purchases.

You could teach them how to use E-bay and how to shop online safely. Man there are SO many things you could do.

IF they are interested in art and have a little understanding of computers, you could recommend drawing tablets and pens and the programs that are best used for everything from making work of art to just writing notes down in your hand writing on your pc. You could teach them how to use programs to draw like sketchbook pro etc, and how to share their drawings online with websites like Flickr, or other more popular art related websites.

The sky is the limit man. If you're polite, kind, and patient, and give people your time and write down points so they remember how to do what you taught them, they will call you back when they have other issues or want to learn something else.

Sell knowledge.....

 

[Droyd09]

I was thinking about this very subject if I wanted to make some extra cash and here I what I came up with.

First, don't assume price is everything to everyone. What people want is a specific need to be fulfilled. Now, do you have access to the people who have that specific need? What I have found is that most people buy a computer to do one thing. Everyone justifies a purchase by saying they will use it for other uses but they make the decision to fill one need. Also, who can you get to that will trust you with their money.

What I was thinking what would be the easiest would be to provide people who want to do high end gaming without learning everything it takes to run the right system correctly. Think about how many people who clog the forums and customer service lines because they are trying to fix a problem? Most of these gamers don't know what they are doing and they are tired of the constant computer problems. That is where you can come in.

You design computers that gamers can use to max out their games without paying a fortune. As I have learned on here, there are different combinations of parts that different games use most efficiently. Out on the net. there are so many people who are just flat out wrong with their advice. Setting up these systems, with all of the driver problems and conflicts, is difficult.

Your sales line would be "I can build you the best, trouble free build to play "X" game. No hassles. No set up problems. Just Set up and go.

Since you are 16 year old male, it would make sense that you would be around people who play games and don't know enough about computers to play these games at their max settings.

What do you think?

 

[Droyd09]

I had the same idea of what your saying, but for me is I don't know where to go or where I can search online or even outside the internet. The people in my community is not going to buy anything, But it be easier for me if I can do over the internet, or even out of my state if possible. I just wish I had contact or people that I can sell them too. whether if its low end ir high end or even if its slightly better than what others make. I just need people, I just don't know where to go for that. I know what I need and I read everyones thoughts but nothing tells me how to attract people or even where to go. Sorry for repeating same thing over its just my only problem here. Not doing ebay or anything. I want to call, e-mail skype, you know talk with the person and work something out then sell them what they want. Not just post it up on ebay and sit hoping it sells. Don't know if you get what I mean.

 

[reBOOT-PCTek]

I'm 16 and want to make some extra cash. The idea dawned on me that I could sell computers that I make. I like making computers, so I figure it's worth a shot. Does anyone know the best way to sell a custom computer? Should I make a computer, then sell it, or have someone contact me, then make the computer? What website should I use? Thanks in advance.

Hey 16.... you know i read your post and after reading a few of the replies it occurred to me that there's an even better solution right in front of you - an opportunity as a solution. Are you good at putting them together? If you are, then it stands to reason that you could also be good at repairing them. Why not be open to all channels and offer computer ",maintenance, upgrades, services etc"? You could make them; making new builds for folks, and at the same time, you could do servicing. Servicing doesn't require the investment that building requires, so if you like building, you could off set the investment cost of having a couple of nice new builds ready for sale, by making money doing servicing to already built computers!. A salesman always has to have samples, there's no getting around THAT, and people are more lible to buy a computer from you if you already have some mae up as then they can pick one from a small line up. People want that when they are going to spend mponey, they want to see that they have options and are able to make choices....